Amazon Oh, Baby! Hampton Roads Oh, Baby! Category:  Parenting Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN-10:  1571745033 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 208 Copyright: 2006 Are you ever really prepared for your first child? Or even the second or third? Sure, you've got the nursery set up, the diapers bought, and the pediatrician selected, but you may be shocked, despite your best efforts, at how totally unprepared you are for parenthood! "Oh, Baby! 7 Ways a Baby Will Change Your Life the First Year" will provide you -- the expectant or new parent -- with the "real story" about the many surprising ways a new baby will turn your life upside-down. The joys will be plentiful -- but so are the challenges! In fact, seven key areas of your life will be impacted -- in both wonderful and overwhelming ways -- when you have a baby. This book is realistic about how life is changed postbaby. It offers practical advice and sensitive know-how to help you survive -- and even thrive -- in the first year. Introduction: Having a Baby Will Change Your Life! Dear Reader, If you’ve picked up this book or received it as a gift, chances are you’re a mother- or father-to-be, or the parent or stepparent of a new baby (whether it’s your first or your fifth!). Congratulations! We are so very happy for you. Or perhaps you’re considering having a child -- even adding to the family that you already have -- and you want to know, "What is it really going to be like in the first year with a new baby?" Certainly, having a child is a miracle -- a gift from God. Most people rate having and raising children as one of the most important and rewarding things they will do in life. When people reach the end of their lives, you rarely hear them say, "I’m glad I had a nice house" or "I’m really proud that I got to be CEO of that company." Most people say, "My greatest accomplishment is my children." Indeed, the joys and challenges of child-rearing will impact you every day of your life (yes, even when your child is grown!), but that first year of baby’s life is particularly special -- and challenging. The rewards are many and wonderful, but the reality is: It’s also probably quite different from what you imagined when you first considered having this baby. Are we ever really prepared for our first child? Or even the second or third? Oh sure, we’ve got the nursery set up, the diapers bought and the pediatrician selected, but we’re often shocked at how, despite our best efforts, we’re totally unprepared for parenthood. Unfortunately, babies don’t come with instruction manuals. Most parents tell us, "I never imagined I could love someone as much as I love my child. But I also never anticipated the way this child completely took over my life and changed it in so many ways. I wish someone had told me what it was really going to be like! It wouldn’t have made me change my mind about having a child -- definitely no regrets there! But I think I would have had more realistic expectations about parenthood in the first year, and the adjustment wouldn’t have been so difficult." Even parents who already have a child -- whom you would expect to be "in the know" about what it’s like in baby’s first year -- are often unprepared for the realities of dealing with two (or more!) children at once. This new child -- with his different needs and personality traits -- can certainly throw a "monkey wrench" into an already established family. Many new parents think a child will fit seamlessly into their marriage and their lives, but the road is often much bumpier than they expected. Of course, the parenting experience is different for everyone. Not all couples will experience the same stresses to the same degree. But it’s been our experience that the seven areas of life described in this book will be impacted in some significant way for nearly all parents. That’s why this book is so very important. Not only will we "clue you in" on the challenges and joys you’ll experience in the first year of parenthood, but we also intend to help you get through them in the best way possible! For instance, each chapter is filled with "questions for discussion" that will help you and your spouse really think about these issues and, most importantly, communicate in ways that can resolve any conflicts between you and cause you to experience the wonder of your new baby. We’ll also be providing helpful "action steps" that give concrete and doable suggestions for tackling each issue. And each chapter will include the story of one family’s journey through the first crucial year with a new baby. We’re certain you’ll see a lot of similarities between their situation and yours. Finally, you’ll read quotes from other parents, both well-known and not-so-known, who reflect on their experiences of new parenthood. Honest and sometimes humorous, they’ll provide little nuggets of reflection for you to think about on those days when you’re wondering if you’ll make it through! We’re so excited to be going on this journey with you. As parents ourselves, we’ve been where you are now. In fact, we dare say that our lives, relationships and careers today are the direct result of the amazing experiences we’ve shared in being parents. Our lives have never been the same since giving birth, and yours won’t be either. By overcoming the challenges and savoring the rewards, you’ll find yourself more fulfilled than you ever imagined. Bettie Youngs, Susan Heim and Jennifer Youngs Excerpt "Being a parent is a powerful experience, but we often don’t anticipate the many ways it will change us. Expectant and new parents will find this book useful because it examines the real effects of having a child on parents’ sense of ‘self,’ concept of love, as well as personal and work goals. And it explores the basis of the deep satisfaction we derive in being a parent. It’s the ‘what to expect’ manual that’s real and honest . . . and helpful and hopeful." -- Michael Popkin, Ph.D., author, "Doc Pop’s 52 Weeks of Active Parenting"

Regan Windsor for Reader Views
Few parenting books tackle the emotional and relationship impacts of becoming a parent. "Oh, Baby!" does an amazing job describing the entirely new level of love you experience with your baby, the enormous sense of responsibility, and the many challenges you will face in various aspect of your new role as parent.

Focusing on "7 Ways a Baby Will Change YOUR Life in the First Year," the book is separated into seven aspects of your life that will be impacted with the birth of a baby. However, each section is further broken down into four to six subsections giving the reader sixty-seven ways a baby will potentially change your life! Each subsection includes questions to help stimulate thoughts and invoke discussion to help the reader assess the emotional and logistical challenges they have encountered and/or overcome. Suggestions are provided to encourage the new parent to become creative in overcoming straining relationships, internal and external conflicts, and spirituality.

The seven sections covered throughout the book include:

A Baby Will Open Your Heart Like No Other Can or Ever Will
A Child Helps You Develop a Durable, Reliable -and Authentic- Sense of Self
Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage: Surviving and Thriving as a Couple
Making a Living and Raising a Child, A Baby Will Change your Views -and Goals- on Both
A Baby Creates Family Ties -and Bonds That Bind
A Baby Will Cause You to Examine Your Beliefs - and Question Your Faith
Friends and Your Baby: You'll Make Many Friends and Lose a Few!

While it is easy to plan for and adjust to the logistical implications of being a parent, the emotional impact can be a shocking new discovery to parents. "Oh, Baby!" is not only a tool to help prepare the new parent for the challenges to come, it is an excellence source to revisit as you face each situation and are looking for guidance and understanding, or even just the reassurance that you are not alone in it. An excellent resource for new and pending parents and especially useful for parenting groups!

Mom Central
"Oh, Baby!" was written by three women from different backgrounds who all know what they’re talking about. Their book attempts to give parents realistic expectations of how their lives will change when they introduce a new baby into the family, whether its their first or fourth. There are seven ways, they say, in which your life will drastically change, and claim these are the things others aren’t telling you. Their book is both detailed and realistic; they do not hold back when pointing out the many unexpected difficulties and challenges involved in bringing home a new baby, and yet the various stories of other parents in the same situation and the numerous family-related quotes scattered throughout the book are both reassuring and moving. The authors touch on every subject possible from making sacrifices for your child and facing challenges to your marriage to questioning your values and beliefs and dealing with pre-baby friends. However, the book is not solely didactic; the authors have incorporated a hands-on approach for the reader, including "action steps" and "questions for discussion" to get couples to engage in both reflection and communication. Ultimately, the book truly accomplishes what it sets out to do – serve as a realistic companion for the new or soon-to-be new parent, who can often feel overwhelmed, unsure, and even scared. "Babies don’t come with instruction manuals," the authors note, but perhaps now we’ve been given one anyway.

Midwest Book Review
Three notable authors provide an essential guide to how a baby will change a family's interactions in OH BABY!: 7 WAYS A BABY WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE THE FIRST YEAR. From coping strategies new parents share with others to discussions on new strengths which can foster both effective parenting and family communications, OH, BABY is packed with easy techniques and insights shared by other parents.